ATI, 5300 International Blvd., North Charleston, SC 29418

A -- MARITECH ADVANCED SHIPBUILDING ENTERPRISE RESEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT SOL MASE 00-01 DUE 121599 POC Technical -- Ron Glover 843-760-4606 or glover@aticorp.org; Contracting/Cost -- Erinbeth Massie 843-760-3366 or massie@aticorp.org WEB: Click here to access the MARITECH ASE and NSRP website, http://www.nsrp.org. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the technical point of contact, glover@aticorp.org. INTRODUCTION: The MARITECH Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise (ASE) Program is interested in receiving abstracts and ultimately proposals (technical and cost) on the research effort described below. The ultimate program goal is to reduce U.S. shipbuilding cost and cycle time from initial business strategy development through post-delivery customer service. This is the entire Research Announcement which has been published as a synopsis in the Commerce Business Daily. This announcement is issued to solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices across the following major initiative areas in U.S. shipyards: Shipyard Production Process Technologies; Business Process Technologies; Product Design and Material Technologies; Systems Technologies; Facilities and Tooling; and Crosscut Initiatives. These major initiatives are described in detail in the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) located on the Web at www.nsrp.org. Offerors are strongly advised to read the SIP in order to gain a greater understanding of the sub-initiative areas detailed below. Because the program major initiatives are closely tied to each other, proposals may be submitted with a scope that represents integrated efforts across several major initiative and/or sub-initiative areas. Due to budgetary actions, expected funding for this solicitation is less than projected in the Strategic Investment Plan. Teaming. Teaming arrangements are encouraged. At least one U.S. shipyard should be substantially involved in each project, normally in a leadership role. Exceptions to this may be considered on a case by case basis where there is compelling justification that the program mission is best served by the proposed deviation. Awards. Due to limited funding, the MARITECH ASE Program reserves the right to limit awards under any topic, and only proposals considered to be of superior quality will be funded. The MARITECH ASE Program reserves the right to select for award of a contract any, all, part, or none of the proposals received. While this solicitation is issued for FY 00 funding, if sufficient high quality proposals are selected, some may be scheduled for award with FY 01 funds when those funds become available (approximately January 2001). Consequently, there may be no research announcement in FY 01. Awards will be made using a class of non-procurement instruments called Technology Investment Agreements (e.g., Cooperative Agreements and Other Transactions). These assistance instruments are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). A copy of the MARITECH ASE Program Technology Investment Agreement is available on the NSRP Web site. For those proposals that are approved for award by the ECB, a letter contract will be executed immediately after the selection meeting. This letter contract will be for a period of 30 days with sufficient funding to conduct project kickoff activities and finalize the program management plan. All proposers, unless exceptions are authorized by the ECB for unusual circumstances (e.g., significant changes to the SOW directed by NSRP), will be expected to sign the final agreement within 30 days of selection. The MARITECH ASE Program reserves the right to terminate awards if the offeror is not able to conclude a formal, signed Technology Investment Agreement within 30 calendar days of selection notification. RA Process. This is an unrestricted solicitation. Proposal preparation & submittal. Offerors should obtain a copy of the latest MARITECH Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise Proposal Preparation Kit (currently version 4.0 -- available from the MARITECH ASE and NSRP Web site at www.nsrp.org). This guide is specifically designed to assist offerors in understanding the RA proposal process. The proposal format provided in the PPK is mandatory. The MARITECH ASE Program will host a proposer's conference on 9 September 1999 from 8:30 AM until 3:30 PM Eastern Time at the Advanced Technology Institute, North Charleston, SC, to provide an overview of the program, explain the process, and answer general questions. Abstracts for this research announcement are optional. Abstracts for this solicitation are due no later than 1500 on 30 September 1999. Submit abstracts to MARITECH ASE Program Administrator, Advanced Technology Institute, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418 Attn: Ms Erinbeth Massie, ATI Contracts Department. Feedback on the abstracts will be provided to submitters no later than 17 October 1999. Full Proposals in response to this Research Announcement (RA) shall be submitted by 15 December 1999, 3:00 PM Eastern Time, addressed to MARITECH ASE Program Administrator, Advanced Technology Institute, 5300 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC 29418 Attn: Ms Erinbeth Massie, ATI Contracts Department. Proposals received after the time and date specified will be returned to the proposer and will not be evaluated. Acknowledgement of receipt of prposals will be made after the due date. REQUIREMENTS: Technical Description. This announcement is issued to solicit proposals for research, development and implementation of best practices in U.S. shipyards as described in detail in the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). Refer to the entire research announcement posted on the Web at www.nsrp.org for the detailed Technical Description. Security Requirements. Classified material is not expected to be used on this effort. Other Special Requirements. Access to important technology developments under this effort by Foreign Firms or Institutions must be carefully controlled. Procedures must be implemented to provide for this control. These controls are in addition to, and are not intended to change or supersede, the provisions of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (22 CFR pt. 121 et seq.), the DoD Industrial Security Regulation (DoD 5220.22-R), and the Department of Commerce Export Regulation (15 CFR pt. 770 et seq.). ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Anticipated Period of Performance. Offerors may submit multi-year proposals, providing they specify clearly defined one-year (or less), sequential (non-overlapping) project phases to allow for go/no-go decisions on future year efforts/funding. Each phase should specify key tasks (activities) and deliverables (results). The total length/duration of the technical effort is expected to vary by project complexity. It is anticipated that most projects will be of 24 or less months duration. It is recognized that particularly complex projects may require technical efforts of up to 36 months. The contractor may also provide for an additional 4 months for processing/completion of the final report. Expected Award Date. March 2000 for most, if not all, selected proposals. If sufficient high quality proposals are selected, some may be scheduled for award with FY 01 funds when those funds become available (approximately January 2001). Funding Estimate. It is anticipated that approximately $13,000,000 will be available for new MARITECH ASE Program awards for this solicitation cycle based on expectations of congressional budget actions. There is no guarantee of this fundinglevel or that awards will be made in any individual topic areas. Multiple awards may be made in a given area depending, in part, on the cost of individual proposals and available funding. Potential funding levels for future years are described in the MARITECH ASE Strategic Investment Plan available on the Web site. Some program funding may be used to support other methods of industry technology advancement, such as symposia and industry study groups. Type of funding instrument. The contractual vehicle used to fund the awards will be a Technology Investment Agreement (TIA). A copy of the TIA may be found on http://www.nsrp.org. Proposals without an affirmative response to the cover page certification of agreement to abide by the terms and conditions of the Technology Investment Agreement (Version 1.5 dated 1 September 1999) will be subject to elimination during screening. Proposers are advised to contact the ATI Director of Contracts if they have any questions on this requirement. Program Furnished Property. None contemplated. Notice to Foreign-Owned Firms. Such firms are asked to immediately notify the MARITECH ASE Program Office point cited below upon deciding to respond to this announcement. Foreign contractors should be aware that prior Government approval may be required before their proposals can be considered. PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS: General Instructions. Offerors should apply the restrictive notice prescribed in the MARITECH ASE Proposal Preparation Kit (available at www.nsrp.org) to trade secrets or privileged commercial and financial information contained in their proposals. Proposal questions should be directed (E-mail is preferred) to one of the points of contact listed elsewhere herein. Offerors should consider instructions contained in the MARITECH ASE Proposal Preparation Kit. Technical and cost proposals, submitted in separate volumes, are required and shall be valid for 180 days. The proposal format provided in the program Proposal Preparation Kit is mandatory. Proposals shall reference the RA number (MASE 00-01). An original, hard copy (unbound) of the proposal and four copies (bound) must be received by the time and date listed earlier. Offerors are also encouraged to submit one copy of the cost and technical proposals via electronic means (using Microsoft software -- Windows 95 or later versions) on computer disk or CD-ROM. The disks shall be 3.5 inch high density disks, MS-DOS formatted, and virus free. It is acceptable to provide graphics/exhibits in a separate hard copy or as part of the electronic file. Providing an electronic copy of the proposal is voluntary and will not affect proposal evaluation. All responsible sources may submit proposals which shall be considered against the criteria set forth herein. Offerors are advised that only MARITECH ASE Program Office contracting officers are legally authorized to contractually bind or otherwise commit the program. Cost Proposal. The accompanying cost proposal/price breakdown shall be supplied together with supporting schedules, and shall contain a person-hour breakdown per task. Copies of the above-referenced forms may be obtained by accessing the NSRP Web site. Refer to the program Proposal Preparation Kit for additional details. Technical Proposal. The technical proposal shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research, the technical approach and appropriate metrics to gage progress. Proposal formats as specified in the MARITECH ASE Proposal Preparation Kit are mandatory. If the PPK requires a particular section, and the offeror determines that the section is not applicable to their proposal, the section shall be included and annotated as not applicable with a brief explanation as to why not applicable. Proposals that develop technology that is readily transferable throughout the industry will receive higher scores than those that produce less demonstrable, transferable results. Resumes of personnel (limited to 2 pages each) who will be participating in this effort should also be included as an appendix to the technical proposal and are not included in the page limit. The technical proposal shall include a Statement of Work (SOW) suitable for contract incorporation as an attachment detailing the technical tasks proposed to be accomplished under the proposed effort. Offerors must use the MARITECH ASE Proposal Preparation Kit available on the Web (www.nsrp.org) to assist in SOW preparation. Any questions concerning the technical proposal or SOW preparation shall be referred to the Technical Point of Contact cited in this announcement. Crosscut Initiatives. All proposals shall also specifically address the crosscut initiative areas (technology transfer; organizational change; education and training; and human resources) -- or identify why this is inappropriate for the specific proposal. Page Limitations. The technical proposal shall be limited to 40 pages (fixed pitch font of 12 or fewer characters per inch or proportional font point size 10 or larger), single-spaced, single-sided, 21.6 x 27.9 cm (8.5 by 11 inches). Smaller type may be used in figures and tables, but must be clearly legible. Margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right) should be at least 2.5 cm (1 inch). The page limitation includes all information, except the Cover Page, Table of Contents, List of Figures and Tables, Cross Reference to Evaluation Criteria, Resumes, Statement of Work, Letters of Commitment, and Teaming Agreement/Memorandum of Agreement. Pages in excess of this limitation will not be considered. Offerors are advised that the number of pages should be commensurate with the degree of complexity of the proposed effort. It is expected, and encouraged, that less complex, less expensive proposals will be significantly less than 40 pages in length. Cost proposals have no page limitations, however, offerors are requested to keep cost proposals to less than 45 pages as a goal. Preparation Cost. This announcement does not commit the program to pay for any response preparation cost. The cost of preparing proposals in response to this announcement is not considered a direct charge to any resulting award or any other contract. BASIS FOR AWARD: The selection of one or more sources for award will be based on an evaluation of an offeror's response (both technical and cost aspects) to determine the overall merit of the proposal in response to the announcement. Details of the evaluation criteria are provided in the Proposal Preparation Kit, and are summarized below: Technical Aspects. The technical aspect, which is ranked as the first order of priority relative to the other factors (cost share, proprietary content, and cost aspect), shall be evaluated based on the following criteria: a. Strategic fit and leverage; b. Business case, including return on investment; c. Innovation and technical merit; d. Technology transfer and industry implementation; and, e. Team strength and management plan. The first is the most important technical factor. Proposals that do not meet the strategic fit and leverage criteria will not be recommended for award. The other fourtechnical factors are of equal importance to each other. Each is defined in greater detail in the Proposal Preparation Kit. Other Factors. a. Cost Share: The proposal shall demonstrate a commitment to share the cost and risk of the proposed effort. The MARITECH ASE program goal is 50% cost share (i.e., for every dollar of program funding provided, industry will provide at least a dollar of cost share). While there is no pre-determined cost share ratio requirement for any single project, the following incentives apply: (1) Shipyard-specific proposals are expected to provide significantly higher cost share than collaborative projects, and (2) All projects will compete on, among other factors, the degree to which the proposers will share the cost and thus leverage program funds. Additional information regarding allowable types of cost share can be found in the MARITECH ASE Proposal Preparation Kit. b. Shipyard Specific Projects: Most of the program funding will be applied toward open, collaborative projects which are widely acceptable with broad applicability. For this reason, most projects will be recommended for award on the basis of sharing results within the U.S. industry. It is anticipated that some projects with limited access, and limited or delayed applicability to the broad industry will be awarded, but these projects will require substantially higher cost share. The estimated fraction of a proposed project's funding that will be used in developing technologies that will be openly shared without delay, such that a higher percentage of the results are shared, will be considered in the evaluation. Proposals with a higher degree of results that are openly shared and readily transferable throughout the industry will be viewed more favorably. Cost Aspects: Cost/Price includes the reasonableness and realism of the proposed cost and consideration of proposed budgets and funding profiles. The technical and cost information will be evaluated at the same time. POINTS OF CONTACT: Technical Contact Point: Mr. Ron Glover, Advanced Technology Institute, 5300 International Blvd., North Charleston, SC 29418. Phone (843) 760-4606, E-mail glover@aticorp.org. Contracting/Cost Point of Contact: Questions related to the contract/cost issues should be directed to the MARITECH ASE Program Office, Advanced Technology Institute, Erinbeth Massie, North Charleston, SC 29418, (843) 760-3366, E-mail massie@aticorp.org. Posted 09/01/99 (W-SN375287). (0244)

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